Friday, April 23, 2010
Do You Know Where Your Joy Is?
For me, it was sitting last night in my living room. Gracie had developed a fever from her vaccination shots, and as I was holding her she snuggled into my neck and patted my face. Before she started to drift off she wrapped her hand around my finger. Such a little gesture that for me spoke volumes. I remember being little and not feeling well and the things that always made me feel better were snuggling with my mom or Dad and having them talk to me softly and tell me it would all get better. I found such comfort and trust and safety in those moments. Last night I was the giver of the moments and it made me feel joyful. Not because my Gracie was feeling under the weather, but because in just over 4 months I have become to her what my parents were to me. The comforter, the one who tries to make everything better, the go to person. The mommy. I am grateful every day for our bond that formed pretty quickly and grows stronger with every day. Before I was a parent, I didn't understand that even when your children are sick or unhappy, there are still valuable lessons that come out of that. Now that I'm in the "club" I cherish all the moments, but lets face it, to date my experience has been really positive so let me remember this when it gets rougher! Imagine how different my life would have been if I ignored my longing for a child. If I had decided it was too hard, or not possible or that I wasn't strong enough to be a single parent I could have spent last night in my living room by myself wondering where my life was going. Now I know exactly where my life is going. It's completely connected to my child who while born to another woman is so completely connected to my soul. That to me is what joy is. If you haven't looked for your joy today, I highly recommend that you do. It could be sitting in your living room.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Long Time, No Post
It feels like it's been forever since I posted last. We've been pretty busy lately and things are going well. First, Gracie turned one on April 5Th. I had a little cake for her that night and then the following weekend was her party. Believe it or not, I don't have pictures of her party yet. I forgot to take pictures because I was so busy. But have no fear, Uncle Rob and Auntie Andrea took lots of pictures and will be forwarding them to me soon. I'll post them and a party review as sson as possible but until then, here are some pictures of her actual birthday.
Today is My Birthday!
Why do you make me wear this crazy hat?
Look Mom, no hands!
Present from Mommy
In other news, Grace is doing really well. We went to see a GI doctor last week and he thinks that she isn't getting enough calories. He switched her formula to pediasure which should really increase her calorie count. We're going on May 3rd to see the nutritionist that works with him. I will need to journal 3 days of her eating and then they will figure out the calories and we can go from there. She weighed in at 13 lbs and 13 oz.
Today we had her one year appointment with her regular pediatrician. The appointment went very well and she weighed in at.........14 lbs 5oz. Yup, She gained half a pound in a week. That's more than she gained in the previous two months. I was thrilled with that. It seems that between the new formula and all the table food she is eating, she's making really good progress. She likes any kind of meat, mashed potato's and peas, beans, cheese, canoli cream and pistachio ice cream. She also had four shots today and a finger prick. That was not fun and she howled like crazy. I felt so bad for her. And she was mad at me afterwards. She let me console her but when I left her with my brother-in-law after the appointment she wouldn't let me give her a kiss. It was her way of saying I'm mad at you because you let those people use me as a pin cushion! She did at least wave bye-bye before I left.
She isn't pulling herself up yet but she's really close. She is a stealth crawler and I have to constantly follow her around. If I lose sight for a minute I know she's either headed for the bathroom or the computer in my room. She is also developing quite a temper. The other day she pulled the lamp cord out of the wall and then when tried to chew on the cord. When I pulled it away from her and moved her across the room she threw a fit. I mean the kind where she threw her head back and her whole body went stiff and she just screamed. I put her on the floor and she screamed and kicked the floor and then when she realized I wasn't paying attention to the fit(or at least I made her think that) she quickly stopped. She also pulled a similar fit in church which got her a one way trip to the back of the church. You gotta love this age. But other than the occasional tantrum she continues to amaze me. I love seeing her sense of humor come out and I adore the crazy looks she gives me when I dress her up in silly thing and then take a picture. She's also really starting to become more comfortable with people.
So that's all the news from her. Hope things are as well with you as they are with us!
Today is My Birthday!
Why do you make me wear this crazy hat?
Look Mom, no hands!
Present from Mommy
In other news, Grace is doing really well. We went to see a GI doctor last week and he thinks that she isn't getting enough calories. He switched her formula to pediasure which should really increase her calorie count. We're going on May 3rd to see the nutritionist that works with him. I will need to journal 3 days of her eating and then they will figure out the calories and we can go from there. She weighed in at 13 lbs and 13 oz.
Today we had her one year appointment with her regular pediatrician. The appointment went very well and she weighed in at.........14 lbs 5oz. Yup, She gained half a pound in a week. That's more than she gained in the previous two months. I was thrilled with that. It seems that between the new formula and all the table food she is eating, she's making really good progress. She likes any kind of meat, mashed potato's and peas, beans, cheese, canoli cream and pistachio ice cream. She also had four shots today and a finger prick. That was not fun and she howled like crazy. I felt so bad for her. And she was mad at me afterwards. She let me console her but when I left her with my brother-in-law after the appointment she wouldn't let me give her a kiss. It was her way of saying I'm mad at you because you let those people use me as a pin cushion! She did at least wave bye-bye before I left.
She isn't pulling herself up yet but she's really close. She is a stealth crawler and I have to constantly follow her around. If I lose sight for a minute I know she's either headed for the bathroom or the computer in my room. She is also developing quite a temper. The other day she pulled the lamp cord out of the wall and then when tried to chew on the cord. When I pulled it away from her and moved her across the room she threw a fit. I mean the kind where she threw her head back and her whole body went stiff and she just screamed. I put her on the floor and she screamed and kicked the floor and then when she realized I wasn't paying attention to the fit(or at least I made her think that) she quickly stopped. She also pulled a similar fit in church which got her a one way trip to the back of the church. You gotta love this age. But other than the occasional tantrum she continues to amaze me. I love seeing her sense of humor come out and I adore the crazy looks she gives me when I dress her up in silly thing and then take a picture. She's also really starting to become more comfortable with people.
So that's all the news from her. Hope things are as well with you as they are with us!
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